First Mead

I made my first mead it was the simply Joe's ancient orange. Followed instruction and let sit for almost 4 months. Racked into a clean wine bottle and let 4 people sample it I got one "Oh Yuck" one "thats discusting" one " Dad what the hell is that" and one "Hum" took that bottle corked it and let sit another 3 weeks in a fridge. We broke it out last weekend, I thought it wasnt bad, but I am not a wine drinker (beer and vodka) My wife tried it and said "nasty" another friend took 3 drinks and said that is not very good. None of us have tried Mead before so we have no idea on what it should taste like. I have had a couple people tell me mine tasted like camunion (spelling ) wine. Can anyone tell me is this what is supposed to tast like? It has distinct Orange and Cinnamon taste also seemed to give me a buz real fast.

Taste is very subjective and, though I've heard of a few people who didn't like JAO, I find it hard to believe that everyone who tried it didn't like it.

First, it should have been finished far quicker than four months. It'll pick up a lot of bitter orange rind flavor from sitting that long. It would likely pick up some off flavors from the gross lees as well.

Yes, there are orange and cinnamon flavors, and clove as well if you made it according to the recipe. It tends to ferment drier as it sits in the primary but the "communion wine" description tells me that it's still sweet (the communion wine in my church isn't sweet though).

It's hard to say what went wrong without tasting it but my guess is that you allowed it to sit in the primary too long. I believe the instructions say it should be ready in two months. Sometimes I'll rack mine off the oranges and lees so it doesn't develop off flavors. Once it's racked it's safe to sit in the secondary forever, if kept topped up and airlocked.

A LOT people here LOVE JOAM...I am not one of them. In fact, if that was the first mead I'd tasted, I'd not had another.
I would encourage you to do a "SHOW" Mead. Just Honey, Water, and Yeast (Cheat with Nutrient and Energizer..it's worth it.) You also may want to try a lighter version of a show mead...Maybe NOT 3# per gallon....maybe 2? That way you will avoid needing to age for a year or better to be ok...just remember EVERY mead improves with age. Some more than others, but when you get to the 3# per gallon range...you are looking at 1 year+.
You still may not be at 100% Of what you'll like, but then you get to taste the mead and know what it tastes like...then start to think about fruit. I can't say for the finished product, but dried Blueberries are nice...so far.

I might suggest to go to the local liquor store, preferably a larger outlet, and pick up a nice bottle of mead. This way you can get a taste of it.

Hey Milhouse...the Powers Liquor Mart carries Meadery of the Rockies....That was the first I'd tasted...and It was what fueled the fire...now I get it by the case when we go to Grand Junction.